Romans 13:1-7, The Blessing of Government
Notes
Transcript
July 4th, 2021
Romans 13:1-7
“God’s Blessing of Government”
Big Idea - God has graciously blessed me with government.
Here are the 3 things we will see today.
God places nations where he wants them.
Good government allows for flourishing
We are to obey those who rule over us.
Note - This is a vast subject. What will bother most people about todays subject is not what is said, but what is left unsaid. We could easily do a 3 month series on this. However, our purpose today (as always) is to teach the text. Hopefully we will honor God’s Word.
Read
Read - Romans 13:1-9
Pray
Opener,
In 19 years of youth ministry there was one question - when asked - that would rile up the emotions of students almost more than anything.
The question is this, How is it going obeying your parents?
If you could put a blood pressure cuff on a student when that question was asked you would note that their blood pressure would go so high they would almost stroke.
It is a question that raises blood pressure for 2 reasons:
-The intimacy and imperfection of the parent child relationship.
-The angst in which our flesh responds to authority.
-We are not drawn to follow and obey others, to submit to their authority,
-This was one of the major problems in the Garden of Eden.
-When Adam and Eve rejected God’s leadership and instruction.
-We don’t enjoy being told what to do.
-You desire autonomy. You desire self-rule.
-And our individualistic American culture further reinforces our desire to be our own boss.
In our passage today Paul talks about the Christ Follower’s relationship to the government.
Transition - The first thing we see in our passage today is this.
Romans 13:1-2
I. God sovereignly inserts governments & rulers in the time and place he desires them.
-God not only chooses your government, but he also chooses your leaders
Read - Romans 13:1-2
We see in our passage that God … God sovereignly inserts governments & rulers in the time and place he desires them.
Daniel 2:20-22
“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
wisdom and power are his.
21
He changes times and seasons;
he deposes kings and raises up others.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.
22
He reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what lies in darkness,
and light dwells with him.
“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever;
wisdom and power are his.
Not only does God surgically insert rulers in the times and places He wants them, but He also is in control over their desires and wills.
Proverbs 21:1, On screen
1 The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord;
he turns it wherever he will.
You and I are blessed that God has not given over control of the governments of the world to hands of broken men and to satan’s influence.
Instead in God’s wisdom he has kept control of the nations. He has kept our world from spiraling into complete anarchy.
What would our world look like if God did not keep his protective hand on it?
What would our world look like if it was given over the the complete control of The Evil One?
I’ll tell you … in would be destruction, death, and chaos.
Humans do not hold this world and the governments together by our power.
God in His common grace to all humanity - hold the nations together.
Praise God that as He is the one who raises up the King and takes down Kings, that He does so in power and wisdom.
God has a purpose and plan for local and Federal government.
Illustration - When it comes to government, politics, the history of nations … you and I in our minds are playing tic-tak-toe, while God is playing 3D chess.
God sees the past, God is in the now, and He is planning the future. He is not reacting to history. God is orchestrating History.
The only reason the great nation of the United States is in place is because God said, “I will create the United States.”
If this young nation ceases to exist it will be because God has declared it to cease.
If this young nation goes forth in strength security and power it is be God declared it.
The God that you serve raises up nations and brings down nations.
The God of power does not raise up presidents and those in congress according to your personal preference.
God sovereignly rules over the nations for HIS GLORY.
God not only sovereignly inserted this nation in this part of history.
God sovereignly and graciously inserted you here in this part of history.
Acts 17:24-27
God not only created the nations and set them in place.
In his creation of you, He chose the nation and place you would live.
We live in a very imperfect country. This last year has proven that.
However, God has been very kind to you, very merciful to you for placing you in this country now.
-If God directs Nations, Kings and Leaders, including what nation you would live in … Don’t you think he can take good loving care of you.
He sees the sparrow when it falls. He knows the number of hairs on your head.
He loves you.
-Will you in your heart right now thank him.
-Will you say, “Thank you Jesus for your kindness to me.”
-Thank you for the nation that you have placed me in.
-Thank you for giving me life and a purpose.
Pause
Transition -
God sovereignly inserting governments & rulers raises some questions.
What if the government official is bad?
What if I didn’t vote for the leader? (president, congressman, governor, mayor)?
-I didn’t vote for
It is God who causes the rise and fall of rulers.
-God raised up and set in place Washington, Lincoln, and Reagan.
-The same God raised up the presidents you don’t like.
-The same God raised up Stalin, Saddam Hussein, Fidel Castro
You respond … Well, I don’t like the rulers.
-At the writing of the book of Romans, the Romans had one of the worst Emperor to sit on the throne.
-His name was Nero. He was mentally ill. Killed his step-brother and mother, burned part of the city of Rome, had a very harsh taxation policy on the people, & tortured & killed Christians.
While this terrible Caesar Nero was in power - Paul, through the inspiration of God’s Spirit wrote this book.
Paul said, Obey your government, those in power have been placed there by God.
Vs. 2, And the Bible takes it further in verse 2.
If you resist or disobey the laws of the government, you are also disobeying God.
Those in power God has in place as His servants to bless you with good.
Let’s be perfectly honest, with challenges of this past year & questions about the government overstepping the line with Covid mandates - there are many in this congregation that right now are bristling.
What about when the government takes away my rights?
-Without getting political.
-When a government does not live by its own rules (Its own constitution and it’s own Bill of Rights) it must be held accountable to govern by it’s own written laws.
Transition - The bible says to obey the authorities over us, but
What if the governor asks me to sin?
-”Acts 5 Exception” -
-After Jesus left the earth for heaven, The Apostles were preaching and teaching about Jesus.
-These were common, uneducated men.
-Nothing special about them except:
They spent 3 years with Jesus and only understood half of what He said.
They were filled with the same Holy Spirit that is in your life.
Then By the strength of God’s Spirit when these men were arrested, placed in prison, then brought before a court of 70 religious leaders, and told to stop preaching about Jesus they said, Read Acts 5:29, “I must obey God rather than men.”
God is the final authority of what is right and wrong.
In Exodus, When the Egyptian Pharoah was afraid that the country would be over run with Hebrews/Jewish children and families, the Pharoah commanded the Hebrew midwives to kill all the boy babies at birth.
-The midwives left Pharoah committed to never kill any baby.
-They were committed to obey God rather than man.
-When Pharoah called the midwives back to ask why the boy baby’s were all alive they said, “The Hebrew women are vigorous in birth. They have their babies before we ever arrive to help the birthing mother.”
The point is this,
-There is one authority that transcends all other authority.
-It is the authority of God alone.
Under the authority of God:
-There is no maverick molecule.
-There is no maverick mogul. (King)
Question, Jonathan how could God allow such godless people to rule this country.
Can I tell you something very sobering?
While the government of the United States is very imperfect.
We still have one of the least corrupt governments in the world.
Visit other nations and study the corruptness of their politicians.
There are greater scandals, more bribery, less checks and balances, less accountability.
There is something that God does want us to see in our broken government.
-That humankind is not in control.
-That humankind is broken.
-We are broken in governing ourselves because we are broken at the very root of our being - in our souls.
-God is using our political system as a means to show us how much of a dumpster fire we are as people.
Man will always fail you and disappoint you.
The ruler of heaven and earth never disappoints.
-The only one who can fix our nation.
-The only one who can fix our families.
-The only one who can fix you as an individual
IS JESUS!
He ALONE IS THE SAVIOR.
He is the one who forgives sin.
Transition ---
Amidst the brokenness that we have in government, there is a great blessing in government ...
Government rule allows for flourishing, vs. 3-4
Story, Several years back, I was on a ministry trip to a small city of 4 million people in China. The American who was there living in this city of 4 million, helping my team, had 2 children. One was a blonde 13 year old girl.
-At a bus stop one day my group was waiting and this 13 year old comes riding up on a bike. Surprised to see her riding around, we started a short conversation.
-She had ridden from the other side of the city where she took art lessons.
-How many of you would allow your 13 year old blonde girl to travel across a city of 4 million people by herself?
-The American helping my team was a professor at the local university who was invited to teach by the Chinese government. It was common knowledge that if you hurt his family, you would be tortured or killed.
No one was going to touch his daughter. She had freedom. In her freedom she was flourishing.
That is an extreme example to prove a general point .
It is good for a people to have a healthy fear punishment for breaking the laws of the land.
Verse 4 says it this way … 9 words into the verse.
This kind of fear helps keep order.
Where you have order, and peace - people tend have the opportunity to flourish.
Transition -
IN Jesus day the Roman Government had a tremendous impact on the spread of Christianity.
Christ came and the Gospel went forth in a time of peace.
?’in the fulness of time...”
Example - Before Christ came to earth, God prepared the world for the Gospel.
4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,
Roman Roads - The Roman government created a very good road system all over the known world. On these roads the Gospel and New Testament Traveled.
Common Language - The Roman Government established a common trade language (Greek) throughout the empire.
-It was Greek that the New Testament was written in and so many would be able to clearly understand.
Time of Peace - The Roman Government created peace.
-It dominated its foes. Once Rome dominated the known world there was a time of very few wars.
-It was during this time of peace that the Gospel and New Testament could go out without being hindered by regional wars.
As God in his might and wisdom sets up kings and rulers and removes kings and rulers, He set the perfect environment for Christ to come and the Gospel to go out.
Government rule allows for flourishing.
Government rule is a blessing.
Without it you have anarchy & lawlessness.
Under the rule of our government that brings peace - your family has the opportunity to flourish, you professionally have the opportunity to flourish, you educationally can flourish...
Most important you have been given the opportunity to spiritually flourish.
-How is your spiritual flourishing?
-Are you a Christ Follower? Have you trusted in Him as your Savior.
-Christ Follower, Do you spend time growing in your faith daily?
-It is God who has placed you in a nation where you can flourish.
Transition - Briefly, We see in our last section of scripture a response to placing yourself under God’s servants (the government).
III. vs. 5, Therefore, Obey the government you have been blessed with.
-Pay your taxes,
-Respect & honor your leaders.
-If you cannot respect the person, respect the office.
-Pray for your leaders
I Timothy 2:1-2
Illustration - Several years ago a friend of mine had a growing medical problem that he was scared to go to the doctor about.
-The problem continued to get worse. His fear grew.
-I began to insist he go to the doctor and I committed to go with him.
-When we got to the doctor I introduced him and asked the doctor to help him.
-The doctor treated him. What was scary was cured.
-When you go to God in prayer on behalf of our government leaders, you are taking them before God and saying, “This is someone who needs your help. Will you minister to them? They need you.”
-Would you pray for our leaders?
-Be a blessing to your leaders
-Be thankful for the country that God placed you in.
-Will you celebrate your nation, but worship the creator of Nations?
End by praying for our nation.